Comparative pollen spectra of Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae, Meliponini) from the Lower Amazon (N Brazil) and caatinga (NE Brazil)

Abstract

Tetragonisca angustula is a stingless bee species widely distributed in Brazil. Past studies have shown a rich native flora supplying this meliponine with pollen and nectar. The aim of this study was to compare the food provisions of T. angustula in two areas in the Lower Amazon mesoregion in the state of Pará and two areas of caatinga vegetation in the state of Bahia, Brazil. We used a published data set of 57 samples of honey and 46 samples of pollen stored in colonies of T. angustula. The honeys from the Lower Amazon and from the caatinga displayed 23 and 16 pollen types with frequency higher than >10 %, respectively, with emphasis on the families Fabaceae, Solanaceae, and Urticaceae. In the pollen stored samples, 18 and 11 pollen types were found, respectively. Cluster analyses (Dice similarity) performed with these published pollen spectra of the honeys grouped the samples from each geographic region with higher similarity than the analyses performed with the pollen spectra of the stored pollen. © 2014, INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag France.